Automatic bottle-stopper.



J. M. HOWLETT.

AUTOMATIC BOTTLE STOPPER.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 14, l9l5.

1,217,093. Patented Feb. 20, 1917.

i ca 6 M/Ew/d'f @5M 3 W545??? J James MARTIN I-IOWLETT, 0F DENVER, COLORADO.

AUTOMATIC BOTTLE-ST OPPER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

-' Patei'ited Feb. 20,1917.

Application filed May 14, 1915. Serial No; 27,966.

To all whom it may concern: v

Be it known that I, J Aims MARTIN How- LETT, acitizen of the United States, residing at the city and county of Denver and State of Colorado, have-invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Bottle-Stoppers; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the ch'aractersof reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to improvements in bottle stoppers, my object being to provide a stopper adapted for use in a bottle whose contents are to be removed in relatively small quantities. This bottle -iswell adapted for use as a bar bottle, where liquors are dispensed by the glass. It isalso well adapted for use as a bottle for holding medicine of any kind, soda fountain syrups, table sauces, and toilet preparations, as hair touics, cologne, etc.

My improved stopper is used to take the place of the ordinary cork after the'latter has been removed. For instance, the .barkeeper or other userremoves the regular cork from a-bottle and substitutes my improved stopper, which forms a proper closure and at the same time, permits the removal of any portion of the contents of the bottle, and as soon as the latter is returned to the upright positiomthe stopper automatically seats itself andi'or'ms a proper closure. An important feature of my improved stopper consists in itsadjustability, whereby the contents may be poured with relative freedom from the bottle or may be dispensed slowly or by drops, asmay be clesired. Hence, it will be found exceedingly convenient where medicine is to be dispensed or removed from the bottle in drops.

Having briefly outlined my improved construction, I will proceed to describe the same in detail, reference being made to the accompanying drawing, in which is illustrated an embodiment thereof. In this drawing, Figure 1 is a vertical section taken through a bottle equipped with my improved stopper, the lower part of the bottle being broken away.

Fig. 2 is a detail view of the stopper, showing a cork sleeve applied.

Fig. 3 is a view of the device, the stopper being shown in the inverted position, whereby its valve or closure member 1s unseated.

Fig. 4 is'a view-showingfthe bottle tilted to unseat the stopperieature to permit the escape of the bottles contents.

Fig. 5 is av View showing the stopper adjusted tocompletely close the bottle at all times for the purpose of preventing the escape of its contents, should it be tipped over or accidentally thrown to such a position as to unseat the valve or closure member when adjusted as in'the other views.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view in detail, ofthe adjustable sleeve applied to the stcnioit. the stopper, shown on a larger scale.

Fig. 7 is a section taken on the line 77, Fig. 2, viewed in the direction of the arrow.

The same reference characters indicate the same parts in all the views.

Let the numeral 5 designate my improved stopper, considered'in its entirety, the same being composed of a shell 6, a valve piece 7, a stem 8, a sleeve 9, a lock-nut 10, and a guide member 12' connected with the shell 6 by arms 13. The shell of the stopper is surrounded by a sleeve'l i composed of cork or other suitable or similar material. The body portion 15 of theshell is cylindrical in shape and in its lower extremity the arms 13 are located. These arms form the support for the, guide member 12,'which is perforated to receive the stem 8. The upper portion of the shell is outwardly flared or enlarged to form a seat 16 for the valve orclosure piece 7 which is secured to the outer trem'ity ofthe stem. Beyond the seat 16 the shell is provided with a circumferential flange '18 which overlaps the upper extremity 19' of the neck, of an ordinary bottle 20, thus limiting the insertion of the stopper.

The stem 8' of; the stopper extends ,inwardly beyond the shell 6, and its inner extremity is threaded as shown at 21. To

, this threaded portion of the stem, the sleeve 9 is applied, the sleeve being interiorly threaded, as shown at 22, for the purpose. To the inner extremity of the stem, beyond the adjustable sleeve, a lock nut 10 may be applied, whereby the sleeve is secured in the adjusted position.

By referring to Fig. 1 01": the drawing, it will be understood that when the sleeve 9 is adjusted as shown in this view, the space between the upper extremity of the sleeve and the lower extremity of the guide 12 indicates the opening movement of the valve. or closure piece 7 when the bottle is inverted or tilted to unseat the valve (see Figs. 3 and 4:). If it is desired to open the bottle to allow a still greater flow of liquid, the sleeve 9 may be adjusted to increase the space 24 between the adjustable sleeve 9 and the guide sleeve 12 of the device. Furthermore, it is evident that if it is desired to restrict the flow, the sleeve 9 may be moved toward the inner extremity of the guide sleeve 12, to permit as little opening movement of the valve piece as desired, or none, if necessary, the last named construction being shown in Fig. 5.

From. the foregoing destription, the use and operation oil? my improved bottle stopper will be readily understood. Assuming that the regular cork or stopper has been removed from a bottle whose contents are to be intermittently dispensed, my improved stopper is substituted therefor. It will be understood that the cork sleeve 14: may be of any desired size or thickness. In other words, the body of my improved stopper comprising the shell (5 may be of uniform size and still be adapted for use with bottles whose neck openings are oi varying sizes, by employing cork sleeves of varying thickness. It is also evident that the shell 6 may be made of any desired size.

Attention is called to the fact that the valve piece is preferably disk-shaped, its exposed portion when in the seated position being convex, while its lower or inner portion is curved to fit the seat 16 of the shell. This exterior curvature of the valve piece has a tendency to deflect any liquid or other material that might accident-ally come in contact with the valve when in the seated position, thus preventing any possibility of such liquid or material entering the bottle.

Furthermore, the valve piece is interiorly recessed as shown at 25, whereby when the valve is unseated and the liquid is being removed from the bottle, it will enter this recess or pocket, which will prevent the liquid from being deflected or scattered beyond the desired area as it is poured from the bottle. After entering this recess, the liquid will flow downwardly either in drops or in a continuous stream, as may be desired, and will thus be under the perfect control of the user of the bottle. If the valve piece had its inner surface convexly curved, there would be a tendency to cause the liquid to scatter or be thrown a considerable distance as it escaped from the bottle. This recess 25 completely overcomes any tendency of this character.

The shell 6 is provided where its cylindrical portion. 15 joins the part 16, with an offset or shoulder 26, which forms a positive stop for the adjacent extremity of the cork sleeve i l and prevents any tendency to split the cork, as might be the ea. c in the absence of this oliset or shoulder. In other Words, iii the exterior surface oil the part ll were beveled or curved directly from the adjacent extremity of the cylindrical part 15, there would be a tendency, as the cork sleeve is crowdedinto place, for it to follow the incline or curve, which of course, would spread and split the sleeve. The shoulder overcomes this diiliculty.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is,

A stopper comprising a cylindrical shell adapted to enter the neck of a bottle, a sleeve composed of yieldable material surrounding said shell and adapted to lit the bottle neck, the upper portion of said shell being formed with an outwardly curved portion terminating in a circumferential flange adapted to engage the upper extremity of the bottle neck, said portion providing a valve seat, a centrally located guide member supported near the inner end of said shell, a valve adapted to cooperate with said valve seat, a valve stem therefor eX- tending through said guide member inwardly beyond said shell, said valve stem carrying thereon an adjustable sleeve adapt ed to cooperate with said guide member to regulate the distance which the valve will move off its seat when the bottle is tilted or placed in an inverted position.

In testimony whereof I ailiX my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JAMES MARTIN HOWLETT.

Witnesses MAZL KIRBY, A. EBERT OBRIEN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, I). C. 

